Aloha everybody. Here's a sample chapter from the three-volume illustrated series that Chongolio and I have published. Any comments are welcome. Hope you enjoy the story!

How Kamapua’a Became a Chicken Thief

Although Kamapua’a was an industrious and helpful child, he grew extremely lazy in his late adolescence. Handsome and clever, he considered himself too important for everyday labor and, thus, spent most afternoons daydreaming and snoozing while his ohana toiled in the sun.

One particularly hot day, Kamapua’a’s older brother, Kekelei’aiku, returned from their kalo patch, annoyed to find his younger brother lazing in the shade. He chided Kamapua’a, “Brother, we work all day so that we may eat while you shamelessly nap! Yet, you eat more poi than the rest of us combined! Perhaps you should not eat with us until you start doing your fair share of chores again!”

Kekelei’aiku’s chastising angered Kamapua’a. “I can provide more in one night than you’ve done in all your years of toiling!” snarled Kamapua’a before taking to the jungle. Kekelei’aiku stared into the verdant brush, regretful for upsetting his impetuous brother.

Kamapua’a walked briskly, thinking of his brother’s harsh words. Anger coursed through his veins rousing the animal within him. Thick bristles formed, where once there was smooth skin. A grotesque snout with great protruding tusks extended from his head, where once there were supple lips and angular jawbone. No longer a chided adolescent human, Kamapua’a was now a mighty boar with eyes the size of coconuts and hooves as wide as ohia trunks! The jungle was a blur of green, as Kamapua’a’s brisk walk became a full gallop. Steadily, he increased his speed, trying to escape the echo of Kekelei’aiku’s words in his mind.

Eventually, Kamapua’a tired and laid down atop a hill above a torch lit village. Kamapua’a stared down at the villagers busily preparing a great luau. Homesick, he thought of how his ohana was probably just sitting down to eat. He wanted to go home and apologize but was too stubborn and proud to return empty-handed.

The village below brimmed with activity. Runners raced to the cheers of spectators. Surfers came to shore to be presented lei while hula dancers swayed to the beat of throbbing drums. As a seemingly limitless amount of food was placed in a central gathering area, the villagers broke from their activities to partake in the sumptuous luau. Tonight was to be the culmination of the Makahiki.

*

For the past few months, most of Oahu celebrated the Makahiki, a post-harvest time of storytelling, gaming, feasting, and dancing in honor of Lono, god of agriculture and fertility. During the Makahiki, warfare was forbidden and many kapu were lifted. Indeed, Kuka’ilimoku – a warring aspect of the great god Ku - retreated faraway until the Makahiki ended. The months of celebrations culminated when kahuna of Lono arrived in a village to receive tribute for their god. And it was said that, on occasion, Lono himself would visit too.

*

Savory scents rose from fires below, wafting about Kamapua’a’s snout. In the sky, opeapea darted, dining on a cloud of makika. Across the horizon, a pueo swooped in for a kill. Even at the base of his enormous hoof, an orderly caravan of tiny `anonanona transported an endless array of morsels to their mound. All the world seemed to eat, all except lonely Kamapua’a.

Kamapua’a never went an evening without dinner, and his stomach rumbled intensely. It rumbled so loudly that the villagers thought a terrible storm approached their village. They quickly hurried inside their hale, leaving scraps of food scattered outside. Unsure why the villagers retreated indoors, Kamapua’a decided to investigate. While there, he didn’t see why anyone should mind if he asked for a bite to eat.

As he descended the hill, his tummy’s rumblings grew louder. Indeed, the gurgles from his empty stomach became so loud that many thought Lono descended upon them! By the time Kamapua’a reached the village, the rumblings were so loud they drowned out the sound of his own voice!

“Aloha? Does anyone have some extra food? I am far from my home and very hungry!” Unanswered, he rapped on a hale beside its entrance. Inside, a feeble old kahuna cowered. “Had we not honored Lono appropriately?” the kahuna thought, “What have we done to offend our great provider?” Not wanting Lono to be displeased, he called out, “Forgive us, oh great one! I beseech you; please take whatever you please! We wish only to appease you!”

At the kahuna’s words, Kamapua’a shrugged his shoulders and began grubbing around the ground with his snout, slurping up remains of unfinished meals. After eating every bit of food in sight, Kamapua’a rolled on his back, rubbed his full belly and let out a resounding belch. The belch was so loud that the kahuna feared it was Lono growling in anger!

“My dear villagers,” the kahuna loudly cried, “the great one is not impressed with our Makahiki offerings. We must do all we can to provide more. Give him what food you have stored in your hale.” Gingerly, villagers set food just outside their homes.

Somewhat bewildered by the seemingly bizarre mix of generosity and bashfulness, Kamapua’a shrugged his shoulders and commenced to sampling the delicious morsels the villagers set out for him. There was so much food even Kamapua’a could not finish it! Completely full, he rolled on his back, rubbed his hard bulbous belly and let out a loud, long, noxious fart, shaking the very ground upon which he laid and blasting pieces of thatch from several roofs.

The old kahuna feared the worst! “Lono is so displeased with our offerings that he’s destroying our village!” As the fart’s foul stench spread, the kahuna sniffed the air and worried that Lono had called upon untold supernatural forces to raze his village.

“Oh please forgive us, great one!” the kahuna called out, “We wish only to appease you! Take our chickens so that you may feast and fondly remember our humble village!”

At the kahuna’s request, Kamapua’a shrugged his shoulders and scooped up several chickens with his chin, storing them in his cheeks and under his tongue. Satisfied by his evening’s work, Kamapua’a began the long walk home through the jungle, gloating to himself “How surprised Kekelei’aiku will be!”

*

As sunrise kissed the pali, Kamapua’a approached the clearing in the jungle where his ohana lived. The cackles and crows of the chickens he dropped out of his mouth woke his ohana. Kekelei’aiku rushed out of his hale to see what was the calamity.

“Kamapua’a, what are you doing with all these chickens?!”

“Did you not believe your brother, Kekelei’aiku? I told you that I too could provide for our ohana!”

“Kamapua’a, I am sorry I doubted you. I did not mean to enrage you. Please forgive me.”

Moved by his brother’s apology, Kamapua’a transformed back into the shape of an adolescent human. He and Kekelei’aiku embraced. “Let’s not wallow in yesterday’s muck,” said Kamapua’a, “especially now that we have all these chickens to prepare!”

With the chickens Kamapua’a provided, his kuku prepared a luau honoring him that morning. Kamapua’a marveled his ohana with tales of how an entire village wished only to appease him! Kekelei’aiku praised him, “Kamapua’a, I was wrong to doubt you. You are a great provider!”

By mid afternoon, the ohana distributed any remaining chickens to their neighbor jungle dwellers, cleaned up from their feast and got back to their regular chores. Kamapua’a was back to his old self - napping in the shade. His full belly and inflated ego induced happy dreams of his childhood. As he sweetly dreamed, his body reverted to that of a baby piglet.

*

Back in the plundered village, villagers remained in their hale through the night, lest they offend Lono. At dawn, some began to timidly peek from their hale to see if things were safe, amazed at the devastation they beheld! Where Kamapua’a grubbed along the ground were great ruts the size of outrigger hulls, and where he rolled on his back lay devastated fields, uprooted trees and ruined kalo patches. Among the devastation, the elderly kahuna noticed strewn chicken feathers and giant hoof prints heading in the direction of the jungle.

“Perhaps, we were not visited by Lono at all last night, but duped by some vile creature of the jungle!” Infuriated by the destruction that surrounded them, the villagers assembled a party of their best huntsmen to track & slay the beast that ruined their Makahiki, wrecked their village, and stole their chickens.

*

Above, an ominous black cloud covered Oahu. From its mist, Lono leered down seeking the trickster who deceived his devotees and gorged upon his tributes.